Miss Sabelle activated the charm as Shade requested, then performed a simple spell. Shade observed her casting movements. The thaumaturgy she used did not preserve body heat or raise her temperature, but instead allowed her to adapt to the surrounding environment. Shade remembered Bella using similar thaumaturgy to resist Dangerous Radiance.
After the two of them passed through the castle gates one after another, the extreme cold made Shade shudder again. He gently exhaled, and the water vapor froze into tiny ice crystals in midair. But the true terror of this bitter cold was that it could freeze the mind. Even Shade had to constantly picture Little Mia and Iluna to keep himself from becoming dazed.
After passing through the gate, Miss Sabelle's face, which had regained some color, immediately turned pale. She stopped breathing as though suffocating. Several seconds later, she barely managed to exhale a breath of white mist, but her entire body shook like Little Mia shaking water from her fur.
Shade believed that in such an environment, aside from Thirteenth Order Witches who wielded Ice and Snow or Sun Power, even other Thirteenth Order Witches might not be able to endure it, much less the ordinary girl beside him.
Since he had saved her, he would not abandon her. Using Inner Fire, he drew a pale golden light from his soul. This time, rather than pressing it into the girl's chest, he held the ball of light while taking Miss Sabelle's ice-cold, pale hand in his own.
After another violent shudder, her breathing gradually returned to normal. The reassuring warmth constantly flowing from his right hand reminded her of childhood afternoons spent reading atop tree branches beneath the sun. She did not pull her hand free, knowing that she needed this now:
"Is this Soul's Warmth?